At-A-Glance
Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces
A NEW PARADIGM IN RESERVING, LOCATING, AND EXPERIENCING MEETINGS
Introduction
Globalization, distributed work force, and collaboration are
important themes in every large organization today. Meeting
rooms—the main enablers of collaboration—are strategic resources
that need to be managed efficiently. However, most organizations
face challenges in using their rooms effectively due to systemic
inefficiencies and user behavior. Traditional calendar-based
tools are inadequate to meet the demands of end users and
administrators alike. That’s where Cisco® Smart+Connected
Meeting Spaces can help.
Strategic Value
Cisco Smart+Connected™ Meeting Spaces helps improve
the collaboration process by simplifying the meeting-roomreservation and resource-management process. In doing so, it
delivers strategic value to the following audiences:
End users: Simplifies room scheduling, improves visibility of room
occupancy, and enhances the in-room collaboration experience.
Users can choose which devices to manage the room from: web
clients, kiosks or signage, room panels, or IP phones.
Administrators: Provides insight into room usage (real-time,
historical, or forecast) with detailed reports on rooms,
locations, users, and departments. Integrates with building
management systems (BMS) to optimize energy consumption
and reduce waste.
Solution Overview
Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces offers a variety of ways
to schedule, locate, and collaborate with colleagues. Those who
are scheduling meetings in advance can take advantage of the
rich functionality offered by the web client. For ad hoc meetings,
the interactive kiosk, room panel, or IP phone in the meeting
room can serve as the booking tool.
The solution makes it easy for users to locate meeting
rooms, either by meeting or by room. Users who don’t know
their meeting room or room location can quickly consult
the interactive signs, which include a floor plan, to find their
meetings or rooms and quickly navigate there. Once in the
S+CC At-A-Glance| © 2014 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 1 Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces Process
Schedule
Locate
Collaborate
• Select most convenient reservation channel.
• View meetings on touchscreen or
non-touchscreen signs and room
panels.
• Confirm, cancel, or extend the
meeting reservation.
• Choose appropriate meeting time,
and the system chooses best-fit rooms,
automatically.
• Configure the room for your meeting needs.
• Add Cisco TelePresence® or WebEx for
distant participants.
• Authenticate easily.
• Control A/V systems,
temperature, lights, and blinds.
• View ongoing meetings on digital
signs.
• Launch Cisco WebEx meetings.
• Use wayfinding to locate room
from current location.
• Request additional services.
room, users can summon up a variety of features on the IP
phone to facilitate collaboration, such as “One Click” audio using
Cisco WebEx®, or they can manage room resources such as
heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), lighting, and blinds.
Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces integrates with existing
IT and facility infrastructures to reduce new investment, while
delivering high ROI. Figure 1 shows the simplicity of using Cisco
Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces, and Figure 2 gives examples
of where the solution can be deployed.
Digital Signage Content Management
An important feature of Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces
is Digital Signage Content Management (DSCM). This feature
provides a single content-creation, sequencing, publishing, and
management interface across a variety of digital signs and media
players. Content can be sourced from an internal or external
feed, such as Microsoft SharePoint widgets, local transportation
schedules, and so forth, and is displayed in a targeted manner on
the signs and locations of choice. DSCM comes with role-based
access, so it is easy to manage permissions for content creators
by role or location. Use cases include:
• Emergency notifications: Display emergency alerts,
evacuation plans, emergency exits, and critical resource
locations on digital displays and IP phones.
• Raise trouble tickets.
• Information signage: Display announcements, news, videos,
transport schedules, and notice boards using digital signs.
• Green advisor: Display utility and carbon emission data
from meters or data sources, green awareness tips, and
comparison of consumption across multiple locations.
Figure 2 Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces
Satisfies Varied Needs
TelePresence Rooms
Formal Meeting Rooms
Private Meeting Rooms
On-Demand Room Setups
Casual Collaboration Areas
At-A-Glance
Solution Components
Figure 3 Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces in a Virtualized Environment
Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces combines a variety
of Cisco and third-party systems in a unique technology
architecture, built on a cloud-ready platform, that provides
flexibility and scalability. Major components include:
• Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces Application
The core application allows integration of kiosks, IP
phones, smartphones, and signage with the enterprise
calendaring system. User interfaces can be customized
to the interface used.
• Cisco Unified Communication
To enhance the in-room experience, end users can confirm
meeting room usage through the Cisco IP phone. They can
also control the room environment (A/V equipment, HVAC,
lights, and blinds) from the convenience of the IP phone.
• Cisco Digital Media Player and Signage
Robust, configurable, and remotely manageable, the Cisco
Digital Media Player displays content, such as meeting
room schedules, floor plans, general news, environmental
information, and emergency notifications. Interactive signs
and kiosks allow users to reserve rooms in two simple steps.
• Cisco Unified Computing System™
All Cisco and third-party software components in the solution
run on Cisco UCS® (and similar third-party) server platforms.
• Third-Party Systems
This software, including enterprise calendar, application server,
and database; building mediation gateways; A/V controllers;
and BMS, is not sold by Cisco.
Please read the Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces Data
Sheet for details on product features and supported technology
integrations.
Cloud Ready and Scalable
Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces can be deployed
on Cisco UCS servers in a virtualized environment, which
allows easy scaling of the number of instances (virtual
machines) based on the number of meeting rooms and
performance requirements. Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting
Spaces supports commercial environments, such as Oracle
WebLogic and Oracle Database, as well as Open Source
IT Manager Benefits
Facilities Manager Benefits
End User Benefits
• Increased utilization of existing ICT infrastructure
• Reduced energy waste, helping
to reduce the overall energy bill
• Enhanced experience
• Reduced capital expenditure on conference room
A/V equipment
• Simplified management of ICT and building infrastructure
environments, such as JBoss and POSTGRESQL, which
allow it to adapt and integrate easily into the enterprise
infrastructure.
Figure 3 illustrates how Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting
Spaces can be deployed in a single data center to address
multiple locations, local or global. The solution also supports
high availability and clustered modes to suit specific business
continuity planning/disaster recovery needs.
Summary
Cisco Smart+Connected Meeting Spaces is a must-have
solution for corporate real-estate and IT managers who want
to enhance employee productivity and collaboration while
improving visibility and utilization of meeting resources.
• Visibility into meeting space use,
for better decision making
• Improved productivity by
increasing room visibility
and usage
Cisco Services
Cisco offers a wide range of service and support programs to
help accelerate customer success. These innovative programs
are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes,
tools, and partners, promoting high levels of customer satisfaction.
Why Cisco
Cisco, a world leader in networking, also brings leadership in
collaboration technologies, along with end-to-end solutions
for the future workplace, all delivered on secure converged
network architecture. Cisco also brings a world-class servicesand-support network, along with extensive technology and
solutions partners that offer diverse capabilities.
For More Information
Contact your authorized Cisco representative or visit
www.cisco.com/go/smartconnectedcommunities.
© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks.
Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
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